The Indian Health Service uses the program to pay outside providers for care that it cannot provide at its facilities. Patients have discovered that the money runs out quickly, leading to the now common refrain -- "Don't get sick after June."

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the chairman of the committee, asked tribes in April for comments on ways to improve the system.

The hearing takes place at 9:30am in Room 562 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building. A witness list hasn't been published.